It is not that difficult for the casual college hoops fan to rattle off an all-american team. Luke Harangody, Evan Turner, the three-headed monster at Kansas, the Great Wall of Kentucky. But when you strictly talk about the all-american teams, you only begin to scratch the surface of the wealth of talent spread across the college basketball landscape. Seldom does the nation's leading scorer come from a power conference, and while this likely speaks volumes about the level of competition said player faces, it does nothing to diminish how good that player actually is.
Here is our list of seven guys currently flying under the national radar. It is far from a comprehensive list, and we would love to hear your input as to who we missed:
Ekpe Udoh, Baylor: 13.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 4.1 bpg, 56% FG
We consider ourselves firmly implanted on the Udoh bandwagon. Udoh is an athletic, face-up four who took one look at John Beilein and his, for lack of a better term, Beilein offense before bolting Michigan for Baylor. After sitting out a season, Udoh has clearly significantly improved. His production is up across the board. While his shot-blocking and rebounding numbers are quite impressive, what makes Udoh so good is his ability on the offensive end. He has been used quite a bit by Scott Drew as a face-up post in the 15 foot range, with excellent results. While his ball-handling and footwork could still use some polish, Udoh's quickness and length has allowed him to be an effective weapon. Whether that continues in Big XII play is another question, but based on what we've seen, Udoh is by far the best interior player on both ends for a team currently sitting at 11-1.
Ekpe Udoh has been a pleasant surprise for Baylor this season.
(photo credit: Draft Express)
Darington Hobson, New Mexico: 16.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 4.5 apg
Hobson was a highly touted recruit in high school, but grade problems forced him to spend two seasons at a JuCo. Now that he is finally at New Mexico, Hobson is making his presence felt. The 6'7" Hobson is as versatile player as you are going to find at this level. His height, length, and athleticism makes him most suitable for playing the three, but he plays almost like a point guard. He is at his best when he puts the ball on the floor, getting to the basket or drawing a defender and finding an open teammate. Given his size, athleticism, and skill set, Hobson can play three positions on the floor, and can even provide some help at the four if need be. Think a left-handed poor man's version of Evan Turner.
Elijah Millsap, UAB: 16.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg
Rebounding must run in the family. The younger brother of Paul Millsap, the former Louisiana Tech star now on the Utah Jazz, has been great this year after sitting out a season transferring to the Blazers from Louisiana-Lafayette. Elijah is shorter than Paul, and also a bit more slender and athletic, which allows him to play on the perimeter. But that lack of size doesn't keep Elijah from attacking the glass, as evidenced by the 9.7 rpg he averages or the 15 boards he grabbed against Cincinnati.
Elijah Millsap has been UAB's best player this season.
(photo credit: Birmingham News)
Jeremy Lin, Harvard: 17.4 ppg, 4.7 apg, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 spg
More than likely, you've heard the name Jeremy Lin before at least in passing as he has been featured by the WWL twice this season. If you haven't, shame on you, because Lin has been one of the best not just in the Ivy, but in the country. He is the only low-major player on the Wooden Top 30 list, and has done enough to draw the attention of the NBA. Lin isn't an overwhelming athlete. He's not particularly strong, he isn't a great shooter, and he's not going break many ankles. But there isn't a facet of the game that he struggles in, and he's proven to be an incredibly efficient player. The numbers he posts don't come as a result of being isolated and allowed to beat his man. He gets his buckets within the flow of the offense, and while playing off the ball he has essentially become the main facilitator for Harvard offensively. Oh, and he performs against top tier competition - he put 30 on UConn in a six point loss and dropped 25 when Harvard won at Boston College.
Aubrey Coleman, Houston: 25.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg
Coleman is the nation's leading scorer this season, and with every 30 point game, it is becoming harder and harder to ignore what this kid is doing on the hardwood. While he isn't all that big (6'3") and is far from the nation's best athlete, Coleman has a chiseled frame and an old school game. Coleman does the majority of his damage in the mid-range. He isn't dunking on opponents, and he isn't going to hit 28 footers all game. But he will make contested pull-up and step-back jumpers all day long, and has shown great instincts as a scorer. Its too bad that he will probably always be known as the guy that stepped on Chase Budinger.
Jimmer Fredette, BYU: 21.6 ppg, 5.6 apg, 44% 3's
Fredette burst on the national scene with a 49 points, 7 board, 9 assist performance at Arizona. Well, he "burst on the scene" as much as you can when you go off in a game that ends around midnight on the east coast and isn't televised nationally. Fredette is about as pure of a shooter as you are going to find, but his biggest strength is his ball-handling ability. Don't be surprised if you see some of his crossovers end up of Sportscenter's top 10. While he isn't the best athlete in the world, he is crafty around the rim and has a great touch which allows him to make some very difficult shots in the lane. Fredette is the leader for a BYU team that is sitting at 14-1. Don't be surprised if you see this kid taking, and making, a lot of big shots in March.
Jimmer Fredette has led BYU to a spot in Kenpom's top 10.
(photo credit: Wikimedia)
Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford: 23.8 ppg, 12.8 rpg
Parakhouski is young in basketball terms. Yes, he is 22 years old, but the 7'0" Belarusian is in just his sixth season of organized basketball. It is easy to assume that a seven-footer playing in the Big South puts up numbers simply because he's the biggest guy on the floor, which is usually a safe assumption. But Radford has played some good competition this season, and Parakhouski has performed very well against them: 23 and 14 against Duke, 26 and 20 at Duquesne, 21 and 13 at Kansas, 24 and 6 against William & Mary, and 34 and 12 against George Mason. Parakhouski's skills look pretty good at this point in his career - he has an above average back-to-the-basket game - and once his awareness and understanding of the game catches up, he may just end up being an NBA player. Those don't grow on trees at schools like Radford.
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The seven best players you don't know about |
Monday, January 26, 2009
College Basketball Week In Review: Conference Favorites Emerge |
What We Learned This Week: As we get farther into conference season, each league is starting to shake itself out and teams are starting to emerge as front runners for the regular season title. In a lot of cases, these are not necessarily the teams that were picked in the preseason, or even earlier during the season, to sit atop the league standings.
GAME OF THE WEEK:
Big East - What makes the Big East so much fun this year is that seemingly each week, there is a new favorite leading the charge to the conference title. Early on, it was UConn. Then it was Georgetown. Then Pitt. Now, it seems like Louisville is leading the way. They are as talented as any team in the conference and playing as well as anyone in the country after knocking off Pitt and Syracuse in their last three games. Louisville is tied with Marquette atop the Big East standings at 6-0.
Big Ten - The Big Ten looked like it was going to be wide open this season as Michigan State and Purdue got off to slow starts and teams like Illinois and Minnesota kept winning games. While the Illini and the Gophers are still in the mix atop the conference standings, the Spartans and the Boilermakers have reasserted their control over the league. MSU is 6-1 while both Illinois (5-2) and Purdue (4-2) are one game back in the loss column.
Arizona 96, Houston 90 OT
Down 87-78 with just 43 seconds left, Arizona managed to make a marvelous comeback to force over time. Chase Budinger hit a three to cut the lead to six. After Houston made one of two free throws, Nic Wise drove and made a lay-up to cut the lead to five. Houston then turned to ball over, and Jordan Hill was able to knock down a short jumper to cut the lead to three. UA fouled, and sent Kelvin Lewis, who had scored 35 in the game and 27 in the second half, to the line. Lewis missed both, and Nic Wise hit a three to send the game into overtime. In OT, Jordan Hill scored an and-one on the Wildcats first possession, and Arizona went on to the victory. Hill finished with 30 points, while Nic Wise added 23 and Chase Budinger 15.
This game was marred by one of the worst cheap shots I've seen in a while. Derek Vinyard Aubrey Coleman steps on Chase Budinger's face after being called for a charge midway through the second half. In his defense, Coleman has issued a statement of apology (and wrote a letter to Budinger) saying that it was accidental. Regardless, Coleman was issued a flagrant foul and ejected from the game.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
The Hokies opened up league play by getting blown out at Duke, dropping them to 9-5 and making a NCAA berth seem so far away. But Tech bounced back with five consecutive wins, including two last week over then-#1 Wake Forest and Miami FL. The Hokies are now all alone in second place in the ACC at 4-1. The biggest reason for those wins was the play of Malcolm Delaney. For the week, Delaney averaged 25 ppg, 7 rpg, 2.5 apg, and 2.5 spg. Delaney made big shots in both games. Against Wake, the Demon Deacons had widdled a 16 point lead down to 71-69, but Delaney drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to help hold off Wake. Against Miami, Delaney's three-point with 1:49 left in OT gave the Hokies a lead they would never give up.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK:
Duke and UConn
Both the Huskies and the Blue Devils went 2-0 this week in impressive fashion, as they now look headed to be #1 and #2 in the polls. Duke did it by blowing out two middle-of-the-pack ACC teams. On Tuesday, they knocked off NC State 73-56, using a 27-5 run to close out the game. On Saturday, they blew out Maryland 85-44 in a game that, believe it or not, wasn't as close as the final score indicates (at one point, Duke was up 71-29). Gerald Henderson continued his phenomenal play this week, going for 21 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 5 steals, and a block (all team-highs) against NC State, while adding 17 and 8 boards against the Terps. 
Even dating back to last season, I have been saying that for Duke to be considered a national title contender, they need either Henderson or Jon Scheyer to turn into a go-to scorer. With the way Henderson has been playing, it is hard to argue against that right now.
As for UConn, the Huskies beat Villanova 89-83 on Wednesday then ended Notre Dame's home court winning streak at 45 on Saturday night 69-61. Beating two ranked conference opponents in one week is impressive in itself, but what was more impressive was how the Huskies did it. They proved that they could force good teams to play the way the Huskies wanted to and assert their influence on the game. Against Villanova, one of the best defensive teams in the Big East, UConn turned the game into an up-and-down affair, going into half time tied at 48. Notre Dame is a much better team offensively than defensively, but the Huskies were able to force to Irish to play a slowed-down, grind-it-out defensive game. The Huskies look like a completely different team from the one that was blown out by Georgetown at home to start the Big East season.
MATCH-UPS OF THE WEEK:
1/26 - Marquette @ Notre Dame: Marquette looks to stay undefeated in the league, while Notre Dame is looking to end a three game losing streak.
1/27 - Texas @ Baylor: Oklahoma seems to be the clear-cut favorite in the Big XII, but it looks like these two teams are going to battle it out for second place.
1/28 - Duke @ Wake Forest: While it most likely won't be #1 vs. #2, this is still going to be a crucial match-up atop the ACC between two Final Four caliber teams.
1/29 - Illinois @ Minnesota: Illinois is looking to prove they belong in the conversation with Purdue and Michigan State.
1/29 - St. Mary's @ Gonzaga: Is it possible that these are the two best teams on the west coast?
As usual, Saturday provides us with an awesome slate of games:
2/1 - Pittsburgh @ Arizona: Wait, that's football...
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